Mauchline Ware Inkstand

An unusual inkstand in the form of an artist’s easel. A palette, which drops forward to act as a writing surface, has a lovely photo of Stonebyres Falls. Below the palette are two pegs upon which a pen could rest. The clear glass inkwell is not original to the piece.

The production of Scottish white-wood products, or Mauchline ware, was carried out from the 1820s until 1939 by the firm of W & A Smith among other less long-lived manufacturers. Often, they used a basic transfer as on this inkstand, each piece having the view of the place of purchase. The transfer subjects ranged across Scotland and more of the British Isles to the rest of the world. A fire in 1933 stopped production, which was never restarted, and W & A Smith finally closed in 1939.